


The New Girl

by prin_zyth



Category: Seraphina - Rachel Hartman, Shadow Scale - Rachel Hartman
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bisexual Female Character, Crush at First Sight, F/F, Gay, Glisselda is my favorite lipstick lesbian, I'm Bad At Tagging, Lesbian Character, Lipstick Lesbian, One-Shot, Seraphina is bisexual, very very very gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 06:08:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15527808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prin_zyth/pseuds/prin_zyth
Summary: Glisselda, Millie, and Kiggs argue about whether or not the new girl is gay, and Glisselda sets out to prove that she is, once and for all.





	The New Girl

They were sitting at their normal lunch table when Millie, who had always had an eagle eye for potential social drama, pointed her out.

She subtly nudged Glisselda, sitting on her right, and asked, “Do you see that new girl over there?”

Glisselda glanced up from her salad (she was nominally vegetarian, though not always in practice). She scanned the cafeteria but didn’t see anyone.

“Where?” she whispered back, trying not to draw the attention of her cousin, Kiggs, and of the other two people sitting at the table, Camba and Lars.

Millie nodded her head toward a table across the cafeteria. “Over there, with Guntard and the music nerds.” Guntard was, in addition to a trumpet player, the class clown, and his jolly attitude always seemed to stand out against the crowd of students whose last morale had been trampled by the daily grind of school.

Glisselda did a double take and noticed, for the first time, an awkwardly positioned girl trying her best to appear casual. She was tall, probably about half a foot taller than Glisselda (if not more; it was hard to tell from a distance), and she had long, curly, dark hair in something resembling a ponytail on the back of her head. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, which was pulled back a bit from the overcrowded table. Glisselda that she looked profoundly anxious; it was endearing.

Suddenly, Glisselda started giggling maniacally. Lars shot her a concerned glance, and Camba rolled her eyes and resumed eating whatever all organic, sugar free bullshit she’d brought in. Kiggs looked up from his burger for the hurst time, completely oblivious to what was happening, and glanced between Glisselda and Millie. He swallowed and then asked, “What?” cringing as his voice cracked.

Millie sighed. “You see the new girl yet?”

Kiggs sat up. “Oh yeah, she was in my math class this morning. Only junior in the class.” Then, turning from Millie to his cousin, he added, “She’s cute, right?”

Glisselda had officially come out last month. A lot of people had been surprised. Well, not really: just Millie. But she’d been supportive, although she became suddenly very hypersensitive to any compliment Selda gave her, and she took every opportunity she could get to assert her own heterosexuality.

Kiggs, on the other hand, had figured it out about a year before. He’d been going through his cousin’s search history to see what she’d gotten him for his upcoming birthday, when he’d stumbled upon some, uh...revealing content. He hadn’t said anything, though, and had acted completely surprised when she told him for real.

Her cousin’s question caught Glisselda completely off-guard, and she started laughing again. “Abso-toot-ly, she is,” Selda said through giggles. Kiggs and Millie exchanged a glance. They’d both known Glisselda for most their lives, and they knew firsthand how difficult it was to talk to her like this.

Glisselda, oblivious to their silent exchange, went on. “And she’s obviously gay, too.” (She’d finally calmed down enough to have a normal conversation.)

Kiggs raised an eyebrow. “Obviously?”

Glisselda laughed. “Of course. I mean, look at her.” She pointed unsubtly, causing Camba to look over inquisitively, then decide it wasn’t really worth it to ask.

“I’m looking.”

“You have to admit that she practically screams, ‘Lesbian.’ She’s at the music nerds’ table, for crying out loud!”

Millie rolled her eyes. “Just because you’re gay doesn’t mean she is, too.”

Kiggs laughed. “Cut her some slack, Mill. Our Selda’s just got a crush, that’s all.” He reached across Millie and playfully shoved Glisselda, but she recoiled.

She stood up and aggressively pushed her chair into the table, attracting murmurs and stares from surrounding tables, and making Camba get up and move to sit with Phloxia and Mina. “You know what, Lucian? You’re wrong. And I’m going to go over there, talk to her, and prove it!” She stomped away, dimly aware of the other two trailing her at a distance, whispering and giggling.

When she reached the girl’s table, she was reading and didn’t notice Selda at all. Even though she was sitting, Glisselda didn’t have too much height over her, but she set her shoulders back to adjust her posture, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and cleared her throat loudly. The girl must not have heard her, because she just kept reading.

Glisselda cleared her throat again, more aggressively this time, and finally tapped the girl’s shoulder, making her jump.

“Oh, uh, sorry,” the girl began shakily.

Glisselda rolled her eyes and shoved her hand into the girl’s face. “Glisselda.”

The girl seemed confused, but she finally took Selda’s hand and shook it. She released it after a second or two and started to turn back toward her book.

“And you are?” Glisselda prompted.

“Sorry. Seraphina.”

Glisselda crossed her arms again. “Seraphina.” She pondered for a second. “Well, that’s a needlessly long name. I shall call you...Phina. Yes, that’s it.”

Seraphina opened her mouth as if to say something, then shut it again.

“Anyway, Phina, I just wanted to ask you,” she clasped her hands behind her back and leaned forward, swaying just a bit as she did so, “if you’d like to come sit with us. This table’s pretty crowded...and loud.” (Guntard was giving an impromptu trumpet performance of “Anaconda.”)

“Um, sure.” She put a felt bookmark in between the pages of her book and shut it; it was The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. She stood up clumsily, accidentally backing her chair into the table behind her and hastily apologizing.

Glisselda waited for Seraphina to stand up before she started walking. She walked slowly; she had a task to complete and didn’t want to rush back to the table where Kiggs and Millie were sitting again, whispering and staring unsubtly.

Keeping her hands clasped behind her back, Glisselda began, “So, Phina, do you play any sports?”

“Uh, no, I’m too busy with music,” she responded, then, remembering her manners, she added, “Do you?”

“No, but that’s not important,” Glisselda said impatiently. “What sport would you play if you had to pick one?”

Softball, softball, please say softball…

“I really don’t know.”

Glisselda sighed internally, as well as externally, by mistake. “Just pick one!” Then, fearing she sounded too harsh, she added, “Just for fun,” and turned and smiled sweetly at Phina, who was following behind her.

“Um, tennis, I guess? Like I said, I don’t play sports, so I don’t really know.”

Tennis. “Could be gay.” Was that out loud?

Seraphina dropped in her tracks. “What?”

“Nothing! Nothing at all.” She slowed down her pace; she was going to need more time, and they were already about halfway to the table.

“Where are you from, Phina?”

“San Francisco.”

Glisselda grinned. That was definitely a good sign. Suddenly, she had a hunch.

She casually glanced over her shoulder and said, “Oh. My. God, Phina, I love your nails!”

Phina herself lifted up her hands to look at them, as if she couldn’t remember what they looked like.

“Could I see them?” Without waiting for her response, Selda took Phina’s hands in her own and examined the nails. Just as she’d guessed, they were plain and filed (or bitten; she could tell) into little nubs.

“They’re just plain.”

“Oh, don’t say that! This style is very popular among some groups.”

“Such as…”

“Oh, I don’t know. People who don’t mind seeming a little odd.”

“Odd?” Phina bristled and pulled her hands back, rubbing them together anxiously.

“You know, one might even say a little ‘queer.’” She turned back around, grinning at the pun, and oblivious to the damage it had caused.

They reached the table and Selda, like the true gentleman she was, pulled out a chair for Phina and gestured for her to sit before doing so herself. Kiggs and Millie, to her left, were doing their best to stifle their laughter as Selda introduced them.

“My dear Millie, this is Seraphina, or Phina for short. Phina, this is Milliphrene, but we call her Millie.” Millie extended a hand to Phina and she stared at it for a few seconds before shaking and releasing it very quickly.

“And this is my cousin, Lucian,” she continued.

Kiggs smiled warmly at Phina. “Everyone except Selda calls me Kiggs.” Seraphina blushed, which Selda interpreted as embarrassment while meeting new people.

“Phina’s from San Francisco, and she has short nails and likes music and tennis. I rest my case.” Glisselda finished the statement by cocking her head and smirking at her cousin.

“Well, I don’t actually like tennis; I just said that because she made me ch-“

“Shh!”

Kiggs raised an eyebrow at Selda but said nothing.

“Guess I won,” she said smugly.

“What?” Phina asked.

“Nothing.”

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. Kiggs and Millie stood up to bring their trays back, and Selda turned toward Seraphina.

“What’s your next class?”

“Um,” she pulled a schedule out of the back pocket of her jeans, “US History.” She smiled wanly and added, “In everything else, I’m ahead, but history has never been my strong suit. I decided to retake the course when I transferred.”

Glisselda laughed. “Well, no matter! Besides, I’m in that one, too. Here, let me show you where it is. That’s not a class you want to be late to. Mr. Brown is scary, man.”

They walked in silence for a few moments before Phina asked, “Your cousins - he’s cute. Is he single?”

Dammit. Selda felt her heart descend into her stomach. She decided to muster her strength and go for it.

She turned to face Seraphina. “How about me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Am I cute?”

“I don’t understand the question.”

Glisselda sighed impatiently. She pointed at herself dramatically and repeated, “Am. I. Cute?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Phina reached up and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “I mean, yes, but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

“Oh, you’re straight!”

“No! I’m bi! But I’m new here, and I’m not really looking for a relationship just yet.”

Glisselda wilted. “Oh, yeah.” They’d reached the classroom now. She forced herself to perk up again. “Anyway, Phina, this is the room. You can just sit wherever.”

“Thank you.” She started to enter but turned around first. “And Selda?”

“Yeah?”

She smiled. “Maybe check back in in a month or so, once I’ve settled in a bit.”

Selda sighed. This was going to be a long month.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm trash and have done literally nothing this entire summer, so I randomly wrote this on the plane home from vacation. Enjoy, and check me out on YouTube! I make Seraphina content (which is rare shit, let's be honest), and my name is Prin Zyth. Bet you don't get the reference to Tess ;)
> 
> ALSO ALSO ALSO I've been coming up with ship names and here's what I have for Phina/Selda: PHELDA.
> 
> Thank you for listening to me, and I apologize for everything.


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